Why We Were Falsely Arrested

St. Paul, Minnesota - Government crackdowns on journalists are a true threat
to democracy. As the Republican National Convention meets in St. Paul, Minn.,
this week, police are systematically targeting journalists. I was arrested with
my two colleagues, "Democracy Now!" producers Sharif Abdel Kouddous
and Nicole Salazar, while reporting on the first day of the RNC. I have been
wrongly charged with a misdemeanor. My co-workers, who were simply reporting,
may be charged with felony riot.

The Democratic and Republican national conventions have become very expensive
and protracted acts of political theater, essentially four-day-long advertisements
for the major presidential candidates. Outside the fences, they have become
major gatherings for grass-roots movements-for people to come, amidst
the banners, bunting, flags and confetti, to express the rights enumerated in
the Constitution's First Amendment: "Congress shall make no law
respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;
or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people
peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

Behind all the patriotic hyperbole that accompanies the conventions, and the
thousands of journalists and media workers who arrive to cover the staged events,
there are serious violations of the basic right of freedom of the press. Here
on the streets of St. Paul, the press is free to report on the official proceedings
of the RNC, but not to report on the police violence and mass arrests directed
at those who have come to petition their government, to protest.

It was Labor Day, and there was an anti-war march, with a huge turnout, with
local families, students, veterans and people from around the country gathered
to oppose the war. The protesters greatly outnumbered the Republican delegates.

There was a positive, festive feeling, coupled with a growing anxiety about
the course that Hurricane Gustav was taking, and whether New Orleans would be
devastated anew. Later in the day, there was a splinter march. The police-clad
in full body armor, with helmets, face shields, batons and canisters of pepper
spray-charged. They forced marchers, onlookers and working journalists
into a nearby parking lot, then surrounded the people and began handcuffing
them.

Nicole was videotaping. Her tape of her own violent arrest is chilling. Police
in riot gear charged her, yelling, "Get down on your face." You
hear her voice, clearly and repeatedly announcing "Press! Press! Where
are we supposed to go?" She was trapped between parked cars. The camera
drops to the pavement amidst Nicole's screams of pain. Her face was smashed
into the pavement, and she was bleeding from the nose, with the heavy officer
with a boot or knee on her back. Another officer was pulling on her leg. Sharif
was thrown up against the wall and kicked in the chest, and he was bleeding
from his arm.

I was at the Xcel Center on the convention floor, interviewing delegates. I
had just made it to the Minnesota delegation when I got a call on my cell phone
with news that Sharif and Nicole were being bloody arrested, in every sense.
Filmmaker Rick Rowley of Big Noise Films and I raced on foot to the scene. Out
of breath, we arrived at the parking lot. I went up to the line of riot police
and asked to speak to a commanding officer, saying that they had arrested accredited
journalists.

Within seconds, they grabbed me, pulled me behind the police line and forcibly
twisted my arms behind my back and handcuffed me, the rigid plastic cuffs digging
into my wrists. I saw Sharif, his arm bloody, his credentials hanging from his
neck. I repeated we were accredited journalists, whereupon a Secret Service
agent came over and ripped my convention credential from my neck. I was taken
to the St. Paul police garage where cages were set up for protesters. I was
charged with obstruction of a peace officer. Nicole and Sharif were taken to
jail, facing riot charges.

The attack on and arrest of me and the "Democracy Now!" producers
was not an isolated event. A video group called I-Witness Video was raided two
days earlier. Another video documentary group, the Glass Bead Collective, was
detained, with its computers and video cameras confiscated. On Wednesday, I-Witness
Video was again raided, forced out of its office location. When I asked St.
Paul Police Chief John Harrington how reporters are to operate in this atmosphere,
he suggested, "By embedding reporters in our mobile field force."

On Monday night, hours after we were arrested, after much public outcry, Nicole,
Sharif and I were released. That was our Labor Day. It's all in a day's
work.

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Amy Goodman is the host of "Democracy Now!," a daily
international TV/radio news hour airing on more than 700 stations in North America.